Ship controls



SHIP CONTROLS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 30, 1964 JOSEPH D. SAlNTE-CLA/HE INVENTOR.

J. D. SAlNTE-CLAIRE 3,304,898

Feb. 21, 1967 SHIP CONTROLS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 30, 1964 JOSEPH D SAlNTE-CLA/RE INVENTOR.

1967 J. D. SAINTE-CLAIRE SHIP CONTROLS Filed March 30, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 4, Flea/3 F/G, /2 72d 46 46 FIG. 5

F/Cir IN VEN TOR BY W 1967 J. D. SAlNTE-CLAIRE 3,304,898

SHIP CONTROLS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 30, 1964- FIG. IO

JOSEPH D. SAINTE-CLA/RE INVENTOR United States Patent ()fiice Patented Feb. 21, 1967 3,304,898 SHIP CONTROLS Joseph D. Sainte-Claire, 5920 Wadsworth Ave., Highland, Calif. 92346 Filed Mar. 30, 1964. Ser. No. 355,573 Claims. (Cl. 114-39) This is an invention for the control and regulation of ships wherein the motive power is or may be a combination of engine and sail, or engines and sails; but it is to be vunderstood that this invention may be employed in ships and the like that have just engine means for power or just sail means for propelling power in navigation along the seas, bays and rivers.

Means are provided for keeping ships on an even keel and to avoid serious listing when and if desirable. Such means are operable automatically but can be operated manually when desired. A special means is provided for supporting the sail or sails so that the sail or sails can be placed parallel with the keel of the ship or placed abeam of the ship or any number of intermediate positions.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to provide a ship, or boat, with stabilizing means in combination with means for shifting the sail or sails into various positions and for reefing the sail or sails automatically.

Another object is to present operating means for a ship, or a boat, that requires but a minimum size crew in that all the necessary maneuvering of the-ship can be accomplished by automatic means, but however, can also be done manually if so desired.

Other objects and aims of this invention will become apparent upon careful perusal of the specifications and claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational viewof a ship showing many of the claimed improvements, parts being broken away to show internal structural parts;

FIG. 2 is a partial plan view taken substantially along the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged front view of the ship showing portions broken away and with the sails unfurled;

FIG. 4- is an enlarged rear elevational view of a portion of the ship;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the ship with parts in section and parts in elevation and parts broken away;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the ship on a reduced scale to clearly show the swing of the boom of the sails;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view, parts in elevation, taken along the line 77 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a view taken substantially along the line.8'8 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a schematic showing of a special electrical switching means;

FIG. 10 is a plan view, partly sectional, of the switch shown in FIG. 9; Y I

FIG. 11 is an elevational view of one end of the switch device;

FIG. 12 is a front elevational view of a control board;

FIG. 13 is a plan view of the control board.

One form of the invention, as shown in the drawings, comprises a ships hull 1, bow 2, keel 3, stern 4, water line 5, rudder 6, and a propeller 7. The power means for propelling the ship, or boat, is not shown in the drawings in that it per se does not necessarily form a novel feature of the invention. The main power means may be inboard or outboard.

There is a forward cabin portion 8 with a roof 9 and a rear cabin portion 10 with its roof 11. The specific arrangement of the cabins, however, has no bearing upon the invention. At the forward end of the ship there is the bowsprit 12 provided with a ballast tank 13 that is fixed securely to a support lever means 14 that is pivoted to an axle means 15. This permits the tank to be swung to a position upon the forward deck of the ship as indicated in broken lines in FIG. 1. The lever arm 14 on the bowsprit is hollow to form a duct so that sea water can be pumped into and out of the tank by means of the pipe 16 that is connected to the slotted axle means 15 and also connected to the pump side 17 of the electric reversible series wound motor combination 18. The pipe 19 makes connection with the pump 17 and a port opening 20 below the water line so that sea water can be pumped into and from the tank 13. Such a motor is a direct current motor with some 5 or 10% compounding so that the speed will not be too high when the tank is being emptied.

At the stern of the ship, there is the pair of spaced apart hinge members 21 and 22, see FIG. 4, that are bifurcated parts of a hollow movable arm 24 that flares outwardly to give good support for the ballast tank 25. A hollow cantilever arm 23 extends from the ships hull to hingedly support the arm 24. The tank 25 is filled and emptied by the pump 26 that is connected to the reversible series slightly compounded electric motor 27. A pipe 28 connects the pump with a rear port opening to the sea below the water line of the ship.

On each side of the ship there is a ballast tank as indicated at 30 and 31. The tank 30 is part of the lower end of the hollow arm 32 which is pivoted at 32' to the cantilever member 33. The tank 31 is part of the lower part of the arm 34 which is pivoted at 34' to the cantilever arm or member 35. .These cantilever members are firmly fixed to and supported by the ships hull and they are extended, see FIG. 5, so as to join together within the ship. These members are hollow including their respective arms so as to form ducts and thus provide a passage for sea water therethrough to their respective tanks. A barrier or block means 36 divides the two cantilever members or arms so that they will be isolated from one another.

A series slightly compounded electric motor and pump unit is provided at 37 for the member 33 and another like unit 38 provided for the member 35. These units are mounted upon platforms fixed to the center board housing 39 and which is designed to accommodate a center board 40 to be explained later.

The unit 37 has the two-way pipe 41 for passage of sea water between the ballast tank and the pump of the unit and a two-way pipe 42 which connects the pump with a port opening to the sea, as shown. The unit 38 has the two-way pipe 43 between the member 35 and the pump unit and a two-way pipe 44 for connecting the pump with a port opening to the sea.

The sea water is used for ballast and is fed into the tanks 30 and 31 alternately and automatically as needed. When the port side tank 31 is filling because the ship is listing to starboard, the tank 30 on the starboard side is then being emptied. The system for accomplishing this feature will presently be explained, but it is here stated, that the forward ballast tank 13 and the rearward ballast tank 25 are paired to operate in the same manner (filling and unfilling) as the two side tanks 30 and 31.

The side tanks 30 and 31 and the forward and rear tanks are raised and lowered as needed and this raising and lowering operation may be accomplished by manual labor, or automatically as set forth and fully disclosed in my eo-pending application for United States patent and which application bears Serial Number 276,385, filed April 29, 1963, now Patent No. 3,137,263 entitled Ballast Means for Ship and the Like.

In FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 of the drawings, a special type of mercury switch means 45 is shown and it is designed to arrest material listing of the ship from side to side. A similar switch 46 is also provided to avoid pitching of the ship or to be used to raise and/or lower the bow.

3 These two switches are mounted upon the control board shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. The control board has a front upright member 47 which is fixed parallel with the beam of the ship and to the rear of this front board there is another control board 48 that is fixed to. the front board and normal thereto so as to be parallel to the keel 3.

Since the switches 45 and 46 are alike, the switch 45 will now be explained in detail. A housing 50 is provided that hermetically encloses a chamber and which chamber has the curved bottom wall 52 that supports liquid mercury which is a good conductor of electricity. An arm 54 extends from the back of the switch housing and has a supporting screw means 55 through a bore of the arm and which screw acts as a pivot in the event the switch is to be controlled by the hand of a pilot. Another arm 56 extends downwardly from the back wall of the housing and this arm is designed as a handle for manual operation of the switch. When it is desired to manually operate the switch, a pin '57 is pulled from a bored portion of the arm or handle and also from a bored hole in the control board 47 and this releases the switch so that it can be operated by hand and swung about the pivot 55. The housing has an elongated partition 58 which divides the chamber into two isolated chambers, a front chamber 59 and a rear chamber 60. Each chamber has a body of liquid mercury indicated at 53 and 53 respectively.

One end of the front chamber has a wire 61 that extends through the housing wall and is exposed to the mercury in the front chamber. Another similar wire 62 is at the other end of the front chamber and positioned in about the same manner. The rear chamber 60 has at one end a wire 63 and the other end a wire 64. The front chamber also has a wire 65 which passes through the bottom wall and at the other end a similar wire 66. The rear chamber 60 also has a bottom wire 67 at one end and a bottom wire 68 at the other end. The inner ends of all these wires may be termed electrodes in that when the mercury flows to one side upon listing of the ship, the mercury electrically closes the electrodes or contacts so that electric current flows through them. Obviously, all the wires are covered with insulation except the electrodes. Note that the wires 62 and 64 lead to the motor 38. The wires 61 and 63 lead to the motor 37 and note that the wires 70 and 71 connect the two pairs of wires just mentioned and are crossed so that the the current entering the motors is such that these motors (direct current) will rotate in opposite directions; that is, when one motor is rotating in a direction to pump fluid into one of the ballast tanks 30 or 31, the other motor will rotate in the opposite direction to drain fluid from the other tank. The wire 65 leads to one side of a manual switch 72 and the other side of this switch is connected to a wire 73 which makes connection with one side of a battery 74 of desired voltage and capacity. The wire 68 which connects with the wire 67 leads to the other side of the battery.

It should now be apparent that when the ship lists to one side, for instance to port, the mercury in switch 45 will be shifted over to the left end or port side of the switch in both chambers 59 and 60 and that the wires 62 and 65 will then be electrically connected and that the spectively so that they can operate independently. Switch 72a cuts-out one motor (38 or 37) depending upon which end of the switch 45 is down.

All the ballast tanks and with their connecting arms, etc., are arranged to be filled and emptied in substantially the same manner. For instance: take tank 31 wherein the cantilever arm or member 35 is hollow as Well as the arm 34. The passage of sea water from one arm to the other is via a special pivoted joint means which is best shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.

The rounded end portion of the arm 35 has at each end thereof a pivot tube indicated at 80 and 81. These tubes are fixed to the ends of the arm, the stationary arm, by any suitable means such as by hearing means indicated at 82 and 83.

The outer end portions of each tube are provided with an opening 84- to which is fixed one end of a rigid pipe 84' which may be metal or made of plastic material.

wires 64 and 67 will also be electrically connected so that the motor 38 is put into operation in one rotary direction (to empty ballast tank 31) and that the other motor 37 will be operated in the opposite rotary direction to fill the ballast tank 30. The other mercury switch 46 works in the same manner as switch 45 except that it involves the motors 18 and 27 to fill and empty tanks 13 and 25. The switch 72 is the main switch for connecting electricity to all electrical motors and switches. Switch 72a shunts current around its end of the mercury switch and the same is true for the switch 72b. These switches are four pole so that they can take care of both lines. Switches 720 and 72d cut-out the motors 38 and 37 re- The inner end 83 of each tube is open so that fluid from the chamber 35' of the arm 35 can pass into the tube and then out through the opening 84 and into the pipe 84 of the arm 34 and hence into the tank 31. The water ballast may rise into the arm 34, if desired. The outer end of each tube is sealed tight by a suitable disc. The upper end of the arm 34 is curved and firmly fixed to the bearing tubes to ride smoothly in rotary fashion as the tubes and 81 rotate within the end portions of the cantilever arm 35. A very flexible pipe or tube (rubber or neoprene for instance) 84" is fixed to the lower end of each pipe 84' so that it can suck-up nearly all the water in the tank no matter what position the tank may 'be in. The end of the tubes may have a ring 84' to make sure the entrance of the pipe will not be blocked.

The center-board housing 39 is firmly fixed to the ship at the top and bottom, as indicated, and within the housing there is the center-board 40 which is designed to be raised and lowered. The center-board is hollow to receive sea water and along each outside narrow end thereof is fixed thereto a toothed rack 85. Each rack is meshed with a small pinion gear 86 that is keyed to a shaft that extends from an electric motor 87 that is series wound. The two motors are connected in parallel and controlled by a single four pole crossing switch 72 upon the control board 47 for reversing rotary direction of the two motors. Thus, the centerboard can be extended from the houing 39 or retracted into the housing as desired by remote control. The sea water is pumped to and from the center-board by means of the pump-motor unit 88 through the pipe 89 and the pipe 90. The pipe 90 enters into the housing chamber at the top thereof and extends into the chamber of the center-board 40. The lower end of this pipe 90 being but an inch or so from the bottom of the center-board chamber when the center-board is at the raised or elevated position, but when the center-board is at its lowermost position, the lower end of pipe 90 is just about at the top end of the center-board.

A very important feature of this invention is the offset mast which permits free movement of the sails from side to side of the ship. The mast pole is shown at and the lower end of same is fixed in a holding plate 101 that is firmly fixed to the deck 2' by bolts and the like. If desired, this mast pole may extend all the way to the keel 3 and be secured thereto.

The top end of the mast has the guy cable plate 103 and which plate has the forward extension 104 to accommodate the top end of the plurality of forward guy cables 105; the lower ends of these guy cables being fixed to a suitable cleat at the distal end of the bowsprit 12. This plate 103 also has attached thereto the upper ends of the guy cables 106 and the lower ends of these cables are fixed to a cable cleat 107 at the stern of the ship. On one side of the ship there is the group of guy cables 108 and on the other side a group of guy cables 109 which are common to sailing vessels having high masts. The very top ends of all these cables are fixed to the plate 103 and their lower ends fixed to their respective cable cleats 110 and lll.

A cross boom 112 is provided that is extended well forward of the mast and this boom supports the end bearing blocks 113 and 114, and the two spaced apart central bearing blocks 115 and 116. To this support the boom, struts 117 and 118 in conjunction with the members 119 to 124 inclusive, along with the mast itself, form a strong fabricated truss when connected as shown. The struts 117, 119, 122, 124 and 123 are connected to rotatable discs on the mast pole 100. Each such disc is indicated at 126 and each one is just a disc having a bore to accommodate the mast in bearing relationship and which disc is supported by a bearing disc 127 which is firmly fixed to the mast. The bottom bearing plate 128 is fixed to the top of the roof 11 and supports a bearing plate 129 which has worm teeth on its periphery that are in mesh with the worm 120 which in turn is rotated by the reversible series D.C. electric motor 131. This motor has a reduction gear box 132 and the worm and box of gears in combination are so arranged (well known in the mechanical arts) that the bearing disc 129 turns very slowly when the motor is energized. The speed of the plate 129 may be geared to make a quarter turn in about ten seconds. The switches 72g and 72h on the control board 47 is provided to connect the motor 131 to a source of suitable D.C. current and also for reversing the motor as desired.

The bearing blocks 113 and 115 support a rotary spar 140 and the bearing blocks 114 and 116 support a rotary spar 141 upon which the sails are wound. A reversible series motor 142 is connected by gears to the rotary spar 140 and motor 143, also series wound, is likewise connected to rotary spar 141 so that their re spective sails 144 and 145 can be rolled or unrolled upon their spars in accordance to pressing the correct switch or switches upon the control board 47. These sails are also raised and lowered by. action of reversible electric motor 146 and 147 by means of their respective Winding drums 148 and 149, as shown. These motors have reduction gear boxes so that the drums rotate slowly. Current reversing switches 72i and 72 are provided for this purpose on control board 47. A pulley bracket 150 is fixed to the mast and has the pulley blocks 151 and 152. A cable 153 has one end fixed to the drum 148 to wind thereof and the other end portion passing through the pulley block 151 and its very end fixed to the top end of sail 144. The other cable 154 has one end fixed to the drum 149 and the other end portion passed through the pulley block 152 and its very end fixed to the top of sail 145. The motors 142 and 146 are synchronized together so that when one motor is drawing the cable 153 the other motor operates in the opposite rotary direction to release the sail; and the same is true as regards the other two motors 143 and 147. This motor operation can be accomplished by employing mercury switches similar to the ones setforth previously.

By such an operation, the sails 144 and 145 can be reefed at will from the control board. If desired, means can be provided to release one or both sails at the top or bottom portions thereof so as to provide a bubble in the sail or sails for greater wind catching purposes. Obviously, more than one mast may be provided when the ship is large enough.

By referring to FIG. 6, it can be seen that the boom 112, because of its offset arrangement, can be swung to be parallel with the keel of the ship on either side of the ship in that the side guy cables or wires 108 and 109 cannot interfere with the boom 112 and its equipment. This feature :gives the yacht-pilot or yachtsman a big advantage over ships without this feature in that with this invention, the pilot has greater control and greater maneuvering advantages.

It is to be understood, that the boom 112 is in two parts which are pivoted near the auxiliary mast so that the boom parts can be swung horizontally and vertically under proper cable controls. This is well known in the art of sailing and need only be mentioned here.

The purpose of the fore and aft ballast tanks will now be explained. It is important to have a ship sail smoothly and evenly through the water and not rise forwardly enough to cause the ship to push water instead of cutting the water; this may be called planing. When it is an advantage to lower the front end of the ship for a planing action, the forward ballast tank 13 is loaded with sea water to effect a planing position. When it is required to raise the forward end or bow, the tank 13 ,is emptied and the tank 25 at the stern then filled. The stern tank 25 is dropped to the water when a brake action is desirable. All this may be done manually or automatically from the control board 47.

It should now be apparent that there are certain new and novel features and details of this invention disclosed. In some case, however, the invention is disclosed in considerable detail, and for purposes to make the invention clear in at least one of its various forms. -It is to be clearly understood that the invention, as described and illustrated, is not necessarily limited to the exact form and details expressed since it is apparent that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims appended hereto.

Having thus described my invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A sailing vessel provided with various rope and Wire rigging to support a main mast means and the like, the rigging extending from the port and starboard sides of the vessel to a top poriton of a main mast, a substantially upright main mast supported by the vessel, an auxiliary mast in combination with the main mast and materially spaced therefrom and continuously in substantial alinement therewith, means for shifting the auxiliary mast about the main mast to various radial degrees in a plane at substantially right angles to the main mast, a boom means extending from and attached to a lower portion of the auxiliary mast and extending in alinement on opposite sides of the auxiliary mast and which is adapted to be attached to the lower portion of a sail means, so that when the auxiliary mast is shifted around the main mast, the boom means clears all said rigging at an outer side thereof.

2. The sailing vessel recited in claim 1 wherein the attachment of the auxiliary rnast to the main mast is a truss-like formation having several points of attachment to the main mast.

3. The sailing vessel recited in claim 1 wherein the vessel has a cabin, the main mast having a portion journalled to the top of the cabin, the boom means having in combination a pair of substantially parallel spars wherein one spar is journalled to the other spar so that the sail of the vessel can be wound about one of the spars by remote control means.

4. The sailing vessel recited in claim 1 wherein the main mast and the auxiliary mast are fixed together at a plurality of points by a truss-like means, a worm wheel fixed to a bottom portion of the main mast, a worm meshed with the wheel and having an extension in connection with a reversible electric motor so that the main mast can be rotated in either direction.

5. The sailing vessel recited in claim 1 wherein the boom is a combination of two pairs of spars in alinement extending from and rigidly fixed to the auxiliary mast, each pair of spars having journal connection between them so that one of each pair of spars can wind a sail thereon for the purposes described.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Redmond 114-125 Macrae 114-107 Hille 114-39 X Ryder 114-102 Moody 114-125 Jennings 114-39 Danko 114-138 Wiltse 114-125 Waas et a1 114-125 X Berge 114-138 McCutchen et a1 114-102 Bu-ck 114-139 8 3,137,263 6/1964 Sainte-Claire 114-125 3,205,849 9/1965 Thorndike 114-102 FOREIGN PATENTS 5 439,933 12/1935 Great Britain. 819,916 9/1959 Great Britain.

57,120 3/1933 Norway.

OTHER REFERENCES 561'. No. 361,463, Steinem, May 11, 1943 (AFC), 10 published.

FERGUS S. MIDDLETON, Primary Examiner.

MILTON BUCHLER, Examiner.

1 T. M. BLIX, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A SAILING VESSEL PROVIDED WITH VARIOUS ROPE AND WIRE RIGGING TO SUPPORT A MAIN MAST MEANS AND THE LIKE, THE RIGGING EXTENDING FROM THE PORT AND STARBOARD SIDES OF THE VESSEL TO A TOP PORITON OF A MAIN MAST, A SUBSTANTIALLY UPRIGHT MAIN MAST SUPPORTED BY THE VESSEL, AN AUXILIARY MAST IN COMBINATION WITH THE MAIN MAST AND MATERIALLY SPACED THEREFROM AND CONTINUOUSLY IN SUBSTANTIAL ALINEMENT THEREWITH, MEANS FOR SHIFTING THE AUXILIARY MAST ABOUT THE MAIN MAST TO VARIOUS RADIAL DEGREES IN A PLANE AT SUBSTANTIALLY RIGHT ANGLES TO THE MAIN MAST, A BOOM MEANS EXTENDING FROM AND ATTACHED TO A LOWER PORTION OF THE AUXILIARY MAST AND EXTENDING IN ALINEMENT ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE AUXILIARY MAST AND WHICH IS ADAPTED TO BE ATTACHED TO THE LOWER PORTION OF A SAIL MEANS, SO THAT WHEN THE AUXILIARY MAST IS SHIFTED AROUND THE MAIN MAST, THE BOOM MEANS CLEARS ALL SAID RIGGING AT AN OUTER SIDE THEREOF. 